Today is the anniversary the worst nuclear power plant disaster in US history: Three Mile Island. Just weeks before the incident, a movie eerily foreshadowed the event: The China Syndrome starring Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon predicted a nuclear accident that would melt into the ground, "all the way to China."

Fortunately, the Three Mile accident never quite reached China. Nevertheless, pay attention to what comes out in theaters. You may be laughing at Shazam! Fury of the Gods now...

In today's edition:

• America the disheartened

• Martin Scorsese's next movie

• Moby Dick, in real life

🔑 Key Stories

UTI from Meat?

New research found that E. coli bacteria from meat likely cause hundreds of thousands of UTIs annually

• A urinary tract infection (UTI) is an infection in any part of the urinary system. About 6-8M Americans – mostly women – develop UTIs each year

• E. coli – a bacteria that lives in the intestines of animals – is usually harmless, but some strains can cause infections. Researchers long knew people got UTIs from human feces (wiping back to front)

• But a new study found, for the first time, that food-borne E. coli was responsible for 8% of UTIs. Scaled out, that means 480k - 640k annual cases are due to contaminated meat

Dig Deeper

• “Most people understand that eating uncooked meat… can cause you to have an upset stomach,” said one of the scientists leading the study. “But now we also know that specific varieties of E. coli, coming from raw meat, are also causing hundreds of thousands of UTIs”

Survey: Americans Less Optimistic

A WSJ/UChicago study found that Americans have become less optimistic, patriotic, and religious

• The study randomly selected 1,019 Americans to participate in interviews during early March 2023

• A record 78% didn’t think their children’s generation will live better than their own, up from 67% in 2019

• 38% of respondents said patriotism is “very important” to them, down from 61% in 2019 and 70% in 2017, and 21% said the US is the greatest country

• 39% of respondents said religion is “very important to them,” down from 48% in 2019 and 62% in 2017. 47% identified as “very/moderately” religion

Dig Deeper

• A record-low 12% of respondents said they are “very happy” in general, versus 30% who said they are “not too happy”

• 43% said society has gone too far in accepting transgender people, and 56% believe they should not be able to play sports based on the gender they identify as

Israel Postpones Judicial Reforms

Israel’s ruling coalition paused judicial reforms

• In January, Israel’s ruling coalition proposed judicial reforms that would let Israel’s government appoint judges and its legislature overrule court decisions. Supporters said they’re necessary to rein in courts’ excess powers; critics say it undermines democracy

• The proposals sparked Israel’s largest-ever protests

• On Sunday, Israel’s prime minister fired the defense minister for saying the reforms should be postponed. That caused mass protests and nationwide strikes

• On Monday, an official in Israel’s ruling coalition said the issue will now be postponed until the summer

Dig Deeper

• On Monday, Israel’s largest trade union – which represents 8.5% of its population – called for a general strike across healthcare, transportation, food services, and more, which shut down much of Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s only recent statement on the situation was on Twitter, where he called “on the right and left to behave responsibly and not to act violently”

Nashville School Shooting

A shooter killed three 9-year-olds and 3 adults at a Christian school in Nashville

• The pre-K-through-6th-grade school has ~200 students and ~40 staff

• Police say they got a call about the shooting at 10:13 AM, and by 10:27 AM officers had killed the shooter

• The police say the shooter was a 28-yo transgender former student of the school. They were armed with 2 assault weapons and a handgun

• Police haven’t identified a motive, but say they found a manifesto and detailed plans for the attack

Always Clean, Always Effective

Together with Jackfir

Choosing the right skin care products from many options that exist today can feel overwhelming. People want products that work. Plain and simple. Enter Jackfir:

• Dry skin? Get Jackfir. Don’t want to put cheap chemicals on your face? Get Jackfir. Like the smell of a forest? Get Jackfir

• So many brands say they are effective and clean, but how do you know? Jackfir is certified by third parties to remove any doubt!

• As for the effectiveness, we defer to Adam T who left this review: “After using the Jackfir facial cleanser I'm questioning whether my face has been dirty my entire life up until this point”

Dig Deeper

• Jackfir’s skincare products get the job done. Clean up your bathroom routine with Jackfir! Always clean, always effective

🍿 Popcorn

ICYMI

• Quoth the Raven, nevermore: Baltimore Ravens star QB Lamar Jackson took to social media to say that he requested a trade from the Ravens on March 2nd

• City of un-brotherly tap: Skeptical Philadelphia residents are buying up water bottles in the wake of a chemical spill. City officials are saying the tap water is now safe

• Funny… like a release date? Martin Scorsese’s next movie Killers of the Flower Moon is set for an October release. It will star Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro

Wildcard

• Sitting bull-s**t: Native American film producer Heather Rae may not have any Native American heritage. A new report claims she's 1/2048th Cherokee at most

• *cries in 🤌🤌🤌*: An Italian professor from the University of Parma is stirring the pot with his claim that carbonara is an American dish

• Ghost of Griffey past: Retired baseball superstar Ken Griffey, Jr. is the 4th highest-paid player on the Cincinnati Reds' payroll despite not having played since 2010

👇 What do you think?

Today's Question:

If you could know the truth behind any historical event, which would it be?

Reply to this email with your answers!

See yesterday's results below the Wrap! 

🌯 Roca Wrap

On March 1, 4 friends departed on a 3,500-mile sailboat journey across the Pacific.

The group – all between ages 25 and 32 – was sailing from the Galápagos islands, off the Pacific coast of South America, to French Polynesia, in the South Pacific. Their vehicle was a 44-foot sailboat.

203 years prior, a 20-man crew had taken their 87-foot whaling ship – the Essex – on a similar route. They sailed from Massachusetts, down the Atlantic to the tip of South America, then up the Pacific to the Galápagos.

While sailing west in the Pacific, a large whale rammed the boat, destroying it. The sailors escaped on rescue boats but found themselves stranded 1,200 miles from the nearest settlement.

After 3 months of drifting and eating their dead, 8 people survived. That true story became the basis of Moby Dick.

Back to 2023:

13 days into the trip, one of the sailors spotted a whale off the side of the boat while the group was having lunch.

The sailors told the Washington Post that alarms started going off and the boat began to fill with water.

One group member began sending out mayday signals while 2 others packed emergency bags and prepared lifeboats. A fourth donned snorkel gear and jumped in the water to see if he could plug the holes.

But the damage was too severe and the boat was going to be lost.

The group evacuated onto the emergency dinghy and raft with all the food and emergency supplies they could take, as well as water bottles, kettles, and pots full of water. They told the Post that they had enough water for a week and about 3 weeks’ worth of food. The sailboat sank minutes later.

The group was stranded, but they were well-prepared.

One member had been in the military, one was a former yacht captain, and one had taken a mariner survival course. They had a satellite phone, satellite wifi hotspot, power bank, and emergency tracking devices that regularly broadcast their location to other ships.

Using satellite wifi, the group sent a message to a friend who was sailing the same route 180 miles behind. “This is no joke,” it said. “We hit a whale and the ship went down.”

“We have a bunch of boats coming. We got you brother,” his friend responded.

The Peruvian Coast Guard, US Coast Guard, and other nearby boats were alerted about the group’s mayday signal. By chance, many were nearby.

One of them, a catamaran, diverted to complete the rescue.

Within 10 hours of the whale attack, the sailors were saved – and a repeat of the Essex had been avoided.

If you have thoughts, let us know at [email protected]!

🌊 Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

Have you been to a movie theater in the last year?

Yes: 63%

No: 37%

Yesterday's Question:

What’s your favorite room in your home and why?

Carlos from North Carolina: “I am a Gen Z so, naturally the dark abyss that is my bedroom.”

Jennifer from Wisconsin: “My favorite room is outside on the patio. Anyone can build a sweet room. But nature is amazing!”

Donna from Texas: “My kitchen is my favorite room in my house because we always ate dinner as a family at that table and would usually sit and talk for quite a while. Now when my kids come home for dinner as adults, we always sit and laugh and share about our lives. Dinner with your kids every night is an investment that is worth the effort.”

🧠 Final Thoughts

Shout out to that original Moby Dick crew. We’re a bit embarrassed to say we never knew that story or read Moby Dick, but now that there's a 2023 version, we can pretend the original never existed!

We hope you have great Tuesdays.

—Max and Max